Pick six winners on any Saturday racecard and trouser a huge bag of (metaphorical) cash.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? That’s perhaps why the Scoop6 remains so popular after all these years, but we can assure you winning the jackpot is anything but straightforward.
Each week there’s no winner the jackpot is rolled over, and heading into last Saturday’s card there was a cool £2 million in the kitty just waiting to be pocketed.
Imagine holding a ticket that contained the three opening winners – Silver Quay, Agusta Gold and Goose Man – last week! The old nerves would have been jangling, and with three races to go there were just 403 tickets left in the game.
The vast majority of those were wiped out when Cyrname and Wakanda got home to leave 52 tickets left in the mix heading into the final race.
That was the Old Boston Handicap Hurdle at Haydock Park, where remaining ticket holders were split; largely between Closing Ceremony and Silva Eclipse.
It was the latter who looked most likely to get the nod after jumping the last and landing clear, but Closing Ceremony produced a stirring late run to get to the line neck-and-neck with Silva Eclipse….
Can you imagine the palpitations that the Scoop6 punters were going through waiting for that photo finish to be decided!?
In the end, judges gave the nod to Closing Ceremony, meaning three players trousered a cool £643,903.40 each! One of them had staked just £2 to get their hands on the dough, while the 2,077 place units that won took home an acceptable £113.40. It’s a nice steak dinner and a few glasses of wine, at least.
| Position | Horse | SP | Win Units (%) | Place Units (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Closing Ceremony | 8/1 | 3 (5.77%) | 210 (4.41%) |
| 2 | Silva Eclipse | 7/2 | 13 (25%) | 1078 (22.63%) |
| 3 | Highland Hunter | 5/1 | 10 (19.23%) | 789 (16.57%) |
| 4 | Teescomponents Lad | 9/1 | 3 (5.77%) | 358 (7.52%) |
| 5 | Flashjack | 10/1 | 4 (7.69%) | 372 (7.81%) |
| 6 | Roycano | 50/1 | 0 (0%) | 2 (.04%) |
| 7 | Django Django | 3/1 (f) | 11 (21.15%) | 1072 (22.51%) |
| 8 | Goodbye Dancer | 12/1 | 3 (5.77%) | 318 (6.68%) |
| 9 | Sammy B | 33/1 | 0 (0%) | 41 (.86%) |
| 10 | Le Musee | 6/1 | 4 (7.69%) | 436 (9.15%) |
| 11 | Courtown Oscar | 20/1 | 1 (1.92%) | 86 (1.81%) |
The trio of winners will now have the chance to add to their new-found fortune on Saturday, with in excess of £1 million sat in the bonus fund waiting for them if they can guess the winner of the nominated race.
The Totepool’s spokesman, Matt Hulmes, said: “Congratulations to the three Scoop6 winners this afternoon!”
“It was a dramatic final leg as the judge took a while to separate Closing Ceremony and Silva Eclipse in the Haydock dusk, but it was to the delight of a triumphant trio, and the dismay of an unlucky thirteen.”
Where There’s Light, There’s Shade
With every feel-good story of big money winners, there is always the opposite side of the coin for those unfortunate enough to come out on the losing side.
Those who had backed Silva Eclipse were metres from becoming 600 grand richer, and there really is no consolation in defeat.
One of the unlucky losers was Mike Ridgeway, who would have netted the handsome prize but for the Sue Smith trained horse to get pipped on the line.
Mike and some of his friends headed down to their local betting shop when his first five picks came home, and they watched on with first excitement, and the horror, as the action unfolded on the big screen.
“When he got over the last I just shouted ‘we’re there, we’re there’, and then I thought it was a dead heat,” he told The Racing Post.
“A few drinks were required afterwards, but more in sorrow than anger really. I’m actually quite philosophical about these things. I’ve been punting on horses for a long time. I take the good and the not-so-good in equal measure really.
“You can study form for hours but at the end of the day, if the luck’s not with you you’re not going to win.”